Top 5 NBA Finals Single-Game Scoring Performances

There is just something magical about a player going off in the NBA Final; it just means more.

HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: Love it or hate it, points per game will always be the benchmark to judge performance.

Watching the Spurs Danny Green go off from deep in this year's Finals made me wonder, in the scope of NBA history, which players have went off at the highest level, at the absolute perfect time.

For as much as the game has evolved over time, four of the top five NBA Finals highest scoring games occurred between 1958 and 1967.

Only four players in history have ever scored 50+ points in a Finals game and just one ever scored 60+.

Elgin Baylor 61 Points, 4/14/62

Baylor scored 61 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in a 126-121 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Though the Celtics came back to win the next two games and the championship, Baylor's scoring feat remains a Finals record.

Rick Barry 55 Points, 4/18/67

Barry matched Wilt Chamberlain's playoff record set five years earlier by attempting 48 shots in Game 3. He made 22 of them, to share the all-time Finals record with Baylor. His 55 points in the game are the second-highest total in NBA Finals history

Michael Jordan 55 Points, 6/16/93

You knew MJ would make an appearance on this list. The Hall of Fame guard averaged 41.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game on 50.8 percent field goal shooting in the series versus Phoenix and introduced himself to the world with a 55-point explosion in Game 4.

Jerry West 53 Points, 4/23/69

West supposedly complained of exhaustion prior to the game, but then the Lakers guard scored 53 points on Boston in a close two-point win.

Bob Pettit 50 Points, 4/12/58

In Game 6 of the 1958 Finals, Pettit was remarkable, setting a then NBA-Playoff record by scoring 50 points. The St. Louis Hawks won by a point, 110-109, to dethrone the Celtics and claim the crown.